Investing.com - Gold futures fell to a one-week low on Tuesday, amid speculation the Federal Reserve will begin tapering its asset purchase program at its October policy meeting.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery traded at USD1,309.50 a troy ounce during U.S. morning hours, down 1.3%.
Gold prices fell by as much as 1.5% earlier in the day to hit a session low of USD1,306.20 a troy ounce, the weakest level since September 18.
The December contract ended 0.4% lower on Monday to settle at USD1,327.00 a troy ounce.
Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,291.70 a troy ounce, the low from September 18 and resistance at USD1,375.10, the high from September 19.
Gold fell to the lowest levels of the session after data showed that U.S. home prices rose by the most in seven years in July.
Standard & Poor’s with Case-Shiller said its house price index rose at an annualized rate of 12.4% in July from a year earlier, in line with forecasts.
Month-on-month, U.S. home prices rose 1.8% in July, below expectations for a 2% increase, after rising by 2.2% in the preceding month.
Gold traders have closely been looking out for U.S. data reports recently to gauge if they will strengthen or weaken the case for the Fed to reduce its bond purchases.
On Monday, New York Fed President William Dudley said that a “very accommodative monetary policy” is still needed to support the U.S. economy.
Dudley, who voted against tapering the central bank’s USD85 billion monthly bond buying program last week, added that adjustments to the Fed’s asset purchase program "need to be anchored in an assessment of how the economy is actually performing”.
Dudley’s comments added to confusion regarding the duration of the Fed’s stimulus program after St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said last Friday that a small tapering of bond purchases is “possible” at the Fed’s October meeting.
The Fed will hold its next monetary policy meeting on Oct. 29-30.
Gold prices soared by as much as 4.5% on September 18 after the Fed decided to leave its USD85 billion-a-month stimulus program unchanged.
The decision surprised markets, which had been expecting the central bank to taper its monthly stimulus program by USD10 billion to USD15 billion.
Moves in the gold price this year have largely tracked shifting expectations as to whether the U.S. central bank would end its quantitative easing program sooner-than-expected.
The precious metal is on track to post a loss of nearly 23% on the year as traders bet an improving U.S. economy would lead the Fed to unwind its stimulus program by the year's end.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for December delivery fell 1.75% to trade at USD21.48 a troy ounce, while copper for December delivery dropped 1.6% to trade at USD3.245 a pound.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery traded at USD1,309.50 a troy ounce during U.S. morning hours, down 1.3%.
Gold prices fell by as much as 1.5% earlier in the day to hit a session low of USD1,306.20 a troy ounce, the weakest level since September 18.
The December contract ended 0.4% lower on Monday to settle at USD1,327.00 a troy ounce.
Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,291.70 a troy ounce, the low from September 18 and resistance at USD1,375.10, the high from September 19.
Gold fell to the lowest levels of the session after data showed that U.S. home prices rose by the most in seven years in July.
Standard & Poor’s with Case-Shiller said its house price index rose at an annualized rate of 12.4% in July from a year earlier, in line with forecasts.
Month-on-month, U.S. home prices rose 1.8% in July, below expectations for a 2% increase, after rising by 2.2% in the preceding month.
Gold traders have closely been looking out for U.S. data reports recently to gauge if they will strengthen or weaken the case for the Fed to reduce its bond purchases.
On Monday, New York Fed President William Dudley said that a “very accommodative monetary policy” is still needed to support the U.S. economy.
Dudley, who voted against tapering the central bank’s USD85 billion monthly bond buying program last week, added that adjustments to the Fed’s asset purchase program "need to be anchored in an assessment of how the economy is actually performing”.
Dudley’s comments added to confusion regarding the duration of the Fed’s stimulus program after St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said last Friday that a small tapering of bond purchases is “possible” at the Fed’s October meeting.
The Fed will hold its next monetary policy meeting on Oct. 29-30.
Gold prices soared by as much as 4.5% on September 18 after the Fed decided to leave its USD85 billion-a-month stimulus program unchanged.
The decision surprised markets, which had been expecting the central bank to taper its monthly stimulus program by USD10 billion to USD15 billion.
Moves in the gold price this year have largely tracked shifting expectations as to whether the U.S. central bank would end its quantitative easing program sooner-than-expected.
The precious metal is on track to post a loss of nearly 23% on the year as traders bet an improving U.S. economy would lead the Fed to unwind its stimulus program by the year's end.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for December delivery fell 1.75% to trade at USD21.48 a troy ounce, while copper for December delivery dropped 1.6% to trade at USD3.245 a pound.